ANDHealth, Australia’s leading digital health commercialisation organisation, has today announced it has been successful in securing $19.75M in funding received from the Australian Federal Government under the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Early Stage Translation and Commercialisation Support program.

The funding will support the expansion of Australia’s most successful digital health commercialisation program, ANDHealth+, supporting up to 25 high-growth-potential SMEs. SMEs will be selected via a competitive process and will receive up to $1M of investment from the ANDHealth Digital Health Accelerator Fund, alongside a dedicated ANDHealth support team, access to a c-suite industry advisory panel and specialised services from pre-vetted suppliers.

The program will also be supported by ANDHealth’s leading industry members, including the Murdoch Childrens’ Research Institute, RMIT University, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Planet Innovation, Roche Australia, Potential(x), Curve Tomorrow, HPM Executive and HealthXL.

ANDHealth’s CEO, Bronwyn Le Grice says, “This funding represents a significant milestone in the development of Australia’s digital health industry with the establishment of the first dedicated fund providing significant capital investment, alongside a proven program of global expertise and support, for Australia’s most promising digital health companies.

"Currently, the median amount of capital raised by Australian digital health companies is approximately $250,000. This program will be transformational in providing investment of up to $1m per company, alongside substantial support and expertise to accelerate the scale up of these life changing technologies.”

In Australia, digital health is a nascent, but growing industry. The types of technologies which will be supported under the program include technologies that use computing platforms, connectivity, software and sensors, either alone or in combination with physical products, to treat, diagnose, cure, mitigate and/or prevent disease or other conditions. These technologies face an extended path to market with numerous clinical, regulatory and commercial challenges to be navigated throughout the commercialisation pathway.

The specialised skills and real world experience necessary to support the commercialisation of these types of digital health interventions is limited and difficult to access within Australia. This funding will allow Australia to build a globally competitive digital health industry, underpinning better health outcomes and significant export opportunities for Australians.

Based on the past performance of the ANDHealth+ program, the successful companies within this program will create 1000 jobs, impact over 500,000 patients, undertake 175 clinical trials, raise over $130M in new financing and generate $80M in new revenues over the next 8 years.

“Over the last four years ANDHealth has become a critical advocate and dedicated support for the growth of Australia’s digital health industry. We are grateful for the leadership of the Minister for Health, Greg Hunt, in supporting this program, which recognises the value of digital health, both to the economy and to the health outcomes of Australians.

'We thank the Federal Government for their support to continue the delivery of our high impact, globally unique program, which is an outstanding testament to the work we have done and continue to do.”

ANDHealth expects to be opening the refreshed and expanded ANDHealth+ program to competitive applications in September.